The Last West and Paolo's Virginia eBook

Kelpies—­
Virginia, come and play with us awhile;
Come, be our queen and on our revels smile.
Or if we may but help you o’er the
stream,
Our labours shall a moment’s frolic
seem.

Virginia—­
Kelpies, too long you’ve roamed
on mischief bent:
Too long you’ve made the sky your
nightly tent.
I’ve oft been warned to shun your
careless way
And from your pranks and revels warned
to stay.
I dare not try to cross the swollen tide
Unless some stronger arm is close beside.

[Paolo approaches]

Permit my arm to be this guide and stay:
Pray give me leave to help you on your
way.

Virginia—­
Kind sir, if you will take me by the hand,
I’ll thank you to assist to that
far strand.
No—­Don’t you lift me
up—­I didn’t mean—­
Well—­If you must—­

[Carried over]

How strong your arms have been.

Paolo—­
Virginia, did I hear the kelpies say?
Yes, that’s my name. What
is your own, I pray?
Call me Paolo, and if I may be
Of any further help fair maid to thee,
Allow me to attend you on your way.

Virginia—­
Thank you, I need no further help to-day.

[Exit Virginia.]

Kelpies—­
Join with us, dance with us, prance with
us
Over the sea.
Roam with us, flee with us, be with us
Where we may be.

Paolo, turning from looking after Virginia—­
I’m in no mood to join your frolics
now;
Perhaps some other day you’ll show
me how
You ride the combers on the ocean swell.
I must be going now, Kelpies farewell.

SCENE II.

WINTER LANDSCAPE

[Paolo wandering disconsolate on snowshoes—­Frosties
bobbing up and down behind bushes and snowdrifts.]

Paolo—­
What goblins, what strange forms are these
I see?
I thought the haunts of men and sprites
to flee
And far from every human habitation
Find solace for my grief mid desolation.

Stand forth yon elf and speak, that I
may know
These are no tricks that on my fancies
grow.

[Frosties all dance out on the snow—­Master
Frosty steps forward with greeting:]

M. F.—­
I’m the master of the Frosties’
band,
On outpost duty from the Arctic land;
You need not fear,
’Tis friends are here.
Your lonely sorrow we can understand,
And would in sympathy just clasp your
hand.
If for your grief
You find relief
In telling us the cause of all your woe,
Your confidence we will respect, I know;
And we’ll be true
As skies are blue.

Paolo—­
It is a story of a winsome maid
That yester eve across my pathway strayed.
That I was shy I can’t deny;
But if it will not weary you to hear,
I’ll try and tell you what I found
so dear,
When o’er a stream
As in a dream
I helped Virginia to the further shore,
And lost my heart to her for evermore.